Terry Bradshaw turns 76: 5 quick details about Steelers' Corridor of Fame quarterback

“Whenever you’ve bought one thing to show, there’s nothing better than a problem.” 

Terry Bradshaw’s above quote in some ways outlined his 14-year profession because the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. Chosen first total within the 1970 NFL Draft, the previous Louisiana Tech standout was tasked with serving to convey life right into a franchise that had by no means received a playoff sport. Bradshaw initially struggled to reside as much as huge expectations earlier than serving to ship the Steelers’ long-awaited playoff win on the finish of his third season. 

Again-to-back Tremendous Bowl victories shortly adopted, nevertheless it took a 3rd Tremendous Bowl win for Bradshaw to lastly get his due as top-of-the-line quarterbacks of his period. A fourth Tremendous Bowl win a yr later not solely confirmed that truth, it clinched Bradshaw’s legacy as one of many greats to ever play the game. 

As Bradshaw celebrates his 76th birthday on Monday, listed below are 5 quick details concerning the Steelers’ Corridor of Fame QB. 

1. A Tremendous Bowl-winning play-caller 

Bradshaw referred to as the Steelers’ performs all through his Corridor of Fame profession, which made him Pittsburgh’s pseudo offensive coordinator throughout their 4 Tremendous Bowl wins. Bradshaw is the one quarterback who has received 4 Tremendous Bowls whereas calling his personal performs. 

As an alternative of filling the sky with footballs, Bradshaw most well-liked a balanced offense that included a bevy of handoffs to Franco Harris, a Corridor of Fame fullback whose 158 dashing yards in opposition to the Vikings in Tremendous Bowl IX keyed the Steelers’ first Tremendous Bowl win. 

“I liked calling a working sport,” Bradshaw informed CBS Sports activities in 2021. “I favored to be good on the line of scrimmage, get us out of this working play, put us in one other working play. Run three in a row, run 5 in a row! I loved that as a quarterback. For me, that was a problem. I loved learning these fronts and tips on how to go after them.”

2. Playoff legend 

Bradshaw’s 73.7% playoff successful proportion is second all-time amongst quarterbacks with greater than 10 profession playoff begins. Not surprisingly, solely Tom Brady boasts the next playoff successful proportion. 

The “Blonde Bomber” posted a 14-5 playoff document that included a 4-0 document in Tremendous Bowls and a 4-2 document in AFC title video games. His AFC championship losses got here in opposition to the undefeated ’72 Dolphins and John Madden’s 1976 Raiders crew that misplaced only one sport. 

Talking of the Raiders, Bradshaw went 3-2 in opposition to Madden’s legendary crew within the postseason. Bradshaw boasted a 2-0 postseason document in opposition to the Cowboys and their Corridor of Fame quarterback, Roger Staubach. 

3. Solely two-time, back-to-back champion 

Bradshaw is the one beginning quarterback to win back-to-back Tremendous Bowls twice. He was the primary quarterback to win three and 4 Tremendous Bowls and was the primary two-time Tremendous Bowl MVP. Bradshaw’s first profession 300-yard sport got here in opposition to the defending champion Cowboys in Tremendous Bowl XIII. In Pittsburgh’s 35-31 victory (a win that clinched the Steelers’ title over the Cowboys as “The Group of the ’70s”), Bradshaw set then-Tremendous Bowl information with 318 yards and 4 landing passes. 

A yr later, dealing with the Rams‘ aggressive protection in Tremendous Bowl XIV, Bradshaw threw for 309 yards and two scores to win his second Tremendous Bowl MVP trophy. Trailing within the fourth quarter, a 73-yard landing strike to John Stallworth on a third-and-8 play gave the Steelers the lead for good. His 45-yard bomb to Stallworth moments later clinched Pittsburgh’s fourth title in six years. 

4. Steelers solely MVP 

Bradshaw is the one member of the Steelers to win NFL MVP. He received the award in 1978 after he and the Steelers took full benefit of the NFL’s newly applied guidelines that inspired the ahead move. No Steelers participant earlier than or since has received the award. 

One of many NFL’s new guidelines that season was created to attenuate a defensive again’s contact with a receiver. The rule, which was nicknamed “The Mel Blount Rule” in honor of then-Steelers cornerback Mel Blount, was designed to gradual the Steelers down. It had the reverse impact, as Pittsburgh went 14-2 that season whereas unleashing a devastating passing assault that featured Bradshaw and future Corridor of Fame wideouts Stallworth and Lynn Swann. Pittsburgh then blitzed Denver and Houston within the AFC playoffs earlier than defeating the Cowboys to change into the primary three-time Tremendous Bowl winner. 

5. One win tops all of them 

Of his 4 Tremendous Bowl wins, Bradshaw has a favourite one. Bradshaw’s favourite win will not be both of his MVP performances. It is as a substitute the Tremendous Bowl win that noticed him play a supporting rule on a day the place Harris and Pittsburgh’s “Metal Curtain” protection took heart stage. 

“I do have one sport, and it was Tremendous Bowl IX in opposition to the Minnesota Vikings,” Bradshaw mentioned. “Mr. Rooney bought his first world title, and he was such a sweetheart of a human being and such a gents. In that sport, I threw [14] passes. Franco broke the Tremendous Bowl document for dashing, and I referred to as all these performs, and that made me really feel actually good. 

“It was after the sport, and after we noticed [Mr. Rooney] go up on the rostrum they usually introduced him with the Vince Lombardi Trophy. All of them mattered, all of them meant one thing, however that was the one which meant probably the most.”